June 1 In Jewish History
987:
Hugh Capet was elected King of France making him the first of the Capetians. During this period, power lay with the nobles
and the leaders of the Church. Among
other things this meant that the kings were unable to do anything to protect
the Jews against the anti-Semitic teachings of the clergy and the resulting
hostile actions of the ordinary people against the Jews. To make matters worse, when Hugh Capet was
stricken with a mystery malady a Jewish physician was summoned to treat
him. Unfortunately, the King died and
the Jews were accused of killing him.
1204:
King Philip Augustus of France conquered Rouen, the historic capital of
Normandy which had been operating under a charter that allowed for
self-government. Considering how poorly
the French king treated his Jewish subject, his seizure of Rouen could not have
been good news for the city’s Jewish population which numbered 6,000 and was
strong enough to support its own Yeshiva. During the second half of the twelfth
century, whenRouen was governed under the terms of a charter that allowed for
self-government, the town was home to 6,000 Jews (approximately 20% of the
population) and was the site of yeshiva. the site of a yeshiva. At that time, about
6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the population. In
addition, there were a large number of Jews scattered about another 100
communities in Normandy. The well-preserved remains of the yeshiva were
discovered in the 1970s under the Rouen Law Courts and the community has begun
a project to restore them. In 1215, Rouen would be the site of the Fourth
Lateran Council which adopted a panoply of ant-Semitic measures.
1252:
Alfonso X is elected King of Castile and León. Known as El Sabio (The Learned
One) the well-educated Christian monarch
set out to “to create a Christian culture in the north of Spain that as
equal in glory to Moorish culture in the South…He ordered both the Koran and
the Talmud to be translated into Latin.”
One of the most prominent scientists in his realm was the Jewish
astronomer, Yehuda ben Moses Cohen.
1434:
King Wladislaus II of Poland passed away. During his reign, persecution of the
Jews intensified and Wladislaus did nothing to protect them or reinforce the
rights that had been granted to them by his predecessors Instead he actually
took steps to limit their business activities by issuing an edict limiting
their right to lend money.
1656:
The Jews of New Amsterdam are allowed to practice their religion, after
reminding the Dutch West India Company that Jews "in quietness" were
allowed to practice in Holland and other Dutch colonies.
1764: The Sejm abolished the Council of the Four
Lands. Supposedly this was not an act
aimed to harm the Jews. Rather it was
part of a plan to re-organize the tax system.
1790:
Birthdate of Rabbi Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport, the native of Lemberg who was
one of the founders of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement and
author of several biographies including one Saadia Gaon.
1775:
Abraham Solomon “enlisted in Col. John Glover’s Regiment, known as the
Marbleheaders, to take part in the glorious Battle of Bunker Hill. Later he was
shifted with his company to Cambridge. When the soldiers received their pay,
they had to sign for it on the company’s muster roll. Solomon’s fellow
soldiers, many of whom could not write, were allowed to make their Xs. But
Solomon could write — just not in English — so he was allowed to sign his name
in Hebrew. It is believed that this is the only Revolutionary War muster roll
to be signed in Hebrew.”
1790:
Birthdate of Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport the Galacian born rabbi and scholar.
1792:
Kentucky admitted as the 15th state of
the United States. Benjamin Gratz, one of the son’s of the famous Michael Gratz
family of Philadelphia, who was a lawyer and veteran of the American Revolution
was one of the earliest Jewish settlers of Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky would become home to the
state’s first congregation, Adath Israel which was incorporated in 1842. While serving as a delegate from Kentucky at
the Republican Convention, Louis Naphtali Dembitz was one three who placed Lincoln’s
name in nomination. He was the uncle of
Kentucky’s most famous Jew, Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis.
1796:
Tennessee admitted as the 16th state of the United States. The first Jews
settled in upper East Tennessee in the 1770s and to Middle Tennessee by the
1820s. The Nashville Jewish community dates from the 1790’s with enough Jews
living there to hold services in the 1840’s and establish a burial society in
the decade before the Civil War.
1828(19th
of Sivan, 5588): Raphael Meldola passed away. Born in Leghorn in 1754, he was
one of the most prominent members of the Meldola family. He received a thorough
university training, both in theological and in secular branches, and displayed
such remarkable talents that when only fifteen years old he was permitted to
take his seat in the rabbinical college. He was preacher in Leghorn for some
years, and in 1803 he obtained the title of rabbi. In 1805 Meldola was elected haham
of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain, and proved a worthy
successor of Sasportas and Nieto. His name will ever be indissolubly associated
with that of Bevis Marks Synagogue. Possessed of a remarkably virile mind, he
was a dominant factor in the British Jewry of his generation. He was the author
of Korban Minhah, Kuppat Hatanim (1796), and Derekh Emunah,
published by his son after his death. He left several other works in
manuscript. His scholarship attracted around him a circle in which were many of
the most distinguished men of his day, including Benjamin Disraeli and Isaac
Disraeli and it is noteworthy that he opposed the policy which produced the
famous rupture between the latter and the mahamad. He maintained a literary
correspondence with many of the most prominent Christian clergymen and scholars
of his time; and his acquaintance with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
Canon of Windsor led to his being received by King George III. Meldola married
Stella Bolaffi (Abulafia), by whom he had four sons and four daughters.
1845:
Birthdate of Caroline von Gomperz-Bettelheim “a Hungarian-Austrian court singer
and member of the Royal Opera, Vienna” who was the older sister of Anton
Bettelheim.
1853: The New York
Times describes an attack by Greek on the Jews of Smyrna during
Easter. Russian agents may have incited the violence which was put down
by the Turks.
1853: The New York
Times reported that the issue of Jewish Disabilities continues to be a
problem in Parliament. In response to a question from Mr. Milner Gibson on this
topic, Lord Russell responded that he did not think a measure that dealt only
with this and that he would be submitting a measure that would dealt with the
general question of Oaths to be taken by Members of Parliament.
1857: Isaac Jackson who
was either 17 or 18 years old was shot and killed today by Charles Jones. Jackson is one of four Jewish brothers who
own a stored in Westfield, MA. Young
Jackson was driving a wagon of merchandize on the road between Westfield and
Russell when he was attacked.
1869: Isidore Loeb “was appointed secretary of the Alliance Israélite
Universelle, a position he held until his death.”
1870: As a sign of his
improving health, Prime Minister Disraeli was able to visit the Foreign
Ministry today.
1873: In an article
published today entitled "Whitsuntide: A Hebrew and a Christian Festival -
Curious Customs and Interesting Ceremonies," the author compares the Jewish
festival of Pentecost with the Christian Whitsuntide. Pentecost, signifying the
fiftieth, is the second of the great festivals of the Hebrews, held fifty days
after the Passover, or feast of the unleavened bread. The time of the festival
is calculated from the second day of the Passover, the 16th of Nisan.
1879: An article entitled “Can’t You Wait?” published
today reminds the reader of two famous examples of” hasty identification” that
turned out be erroneous. First was the case of a papyrus that surfaced at
Leyden which contained a “report of a scribe” sent to his superior serving King
Ramses II that said “he had ‘distributed the rations among the soldiers and
likewise among the Apuirui, or Aperiu, who carry the stones to the great city
of King Ramses.’” While most Egyptologists thought this referred to “the
Hebrews who built…the City of Ramses” Dr. Heinrich Brugsh, showed “clearly that
these Aperiu were not Hebrews but an “Erythraean people…mentioned long before
in an inscription of Thutmes III as cavalry in the Kings Service.” The second
example took place when a picture found in one of the tombs at Beni-Hassan (an
ancient Egyptian cemetery) was first identified as being representional “of the
arrival of the children of Israel” until the same Dr. Brugsh set the record
straight. [Were these really errors or was this an example of a German
Egyptologist who had difficulty acknowledging the antiquity of the Jewish
people?]
1881: It was reported today that according to a recent
study conducted by the Opthamological Society in Great Britain, “Jew are more
color-blid than any other nationality, and their defects are usually of the
most pronounced kind.” Oddly, the
Quakers also show the same propensity for this malady.
1881: In “Birthday of Old Rome” published today it was
reported that no Jewish will pass under
the Arch of Titus with its depiction of the seven-branched candle labrum being
carried in triumph by those who have sacked the Temple because it is a monument
of shame.
1882: Birthdate of Jacob
Billikopf the native of Vilna who gained fame in the United States for his
career in social work, “Jewish philanthropy and labor arbitration.”
1883: It was reported
today that an anti-Semitic riot that had begun in Rostov has been quelled.
Violence broke out when Jew was accused of killing a Russian. Fifteen rioters were arrested after they had
destroyed 130 homes belonging to the Jews of the town.
1885: It was reported to
today that a Hebrew manuscript that appears to be quite old has been found in
the Sutro Library in San Francisco CA.
Copies are being sent to scholars in the United States and Europe to
ascertain its importance.
1885: Anti-Semitic riots
have broken out again in Vienna. At
least forty Jews have been injured in the attacks which have led to the
destruction of several Jewish businesses.
The riots appear to have been brought on by the current elections which
have seen the defeat of Leopoldstadt Schnieder the anti-Semitic candidate who
lost by six thousand votes.
1885: It was reported
that Benjamin Hirschberg delivered the opening address at yesterday’s
celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Hebrew Free School
Association. Other youthful speakers
included Michael Schaap, Annie Nathelson and “ten year old Simon Noot” who
“referred to General Grant as the ‘Winner off battles and the savior of
civilization.’”
1889: It was reported
today that the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children has just issued its 11th
annual report. The primary mission of
the organization has been to provide summer-time excursions for Jewish children
and their parents. Last year the
organization hosted ten outings that served a total of almost seven thousand
babies and children as well as over 3,600 mothers. The society is seeking contributions for the
purchase of a barge that will allow it to provide daily trips.
1894: In Rochester, NY, Congregation
Berith Kodesh dedicated its new house of worship. The building which cost
$130,000 “was designed by Leon Stern, a member of the congregation and was built
on the corner of Gibbs and Grove streets
1897(1st of Sivan, 5657):
Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1898:
Birthdate of actress Molly Picon. Two of her more famous roles were in
“Milk & Honey” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
1899:
Birthdate of Mary Phagan whose murder in 1913 would lead to the lynching of Leo
Frank.
1903(6th
of Sivan, 5663): First Day of Shavuot
1903(6th
of Sivan, 5663): Montifore Isaacs, “one of the best known and most popular
bachelors in New York Society” and the nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore passed
away.
1904:
Three French Army Officers are arrested in connection with the Dreyfus
Affair. However, the verdict would not
be overturned for two more years when Dreyfus would finally be released from
prison.
1905(27th
of Iyar): Isaac Hirsch Weiss, author of Dor Dor Ve-Dorshav passed
away
1906: In Trier, Italy,
after the Jews were attacked by a mob and threatened with death, Bishop Egelbert
offered to save those who were willing to be baptized . Most chose to drown
themselves instead.
1906:
A pogrom broke out in Bialystok, Russia.
1910:
During a debate Turkish Minister of Interior Talaat Bey stated, "Some
deputies have spoken on behalf of Muslim, Greek and Armenian hospitals, but I
note with regret no one has a word for the Jewish hospital, which renders great
services. It admits all persons sent to it by the police without distinction of
race and religion."
1911:
Birthdate of Bernard Rothman better known as Benny Rothman a UK political
activist, most famous for his leading role in the Mass trespass of Kinder Scout
in 1932. He passed away in 2002.
1916: The nomination of Louis D. Brandeis of Boston to be an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States was confirmed by
the Senate in executive session this afternoon by a vote of 47 to 22. Only one
Democrat voted against confirmation.
1917:
A memorandum is published describing the distress of the Jews in Belgrade. According
to the document, “communities are destroyed, thousands are ruined and compelled
to leave their homes.”
1918:
The Ninth annual convention of the Kehillah opens at Carnegie Hall in
Manhattan.
1920:
Birthdate of David Samuilovich Kaufman, “one of the most important Russian
poets of the post-World War II era.”
1926:
Benny Leonard
is the chairman of a committee sponsoring tonight’s scheduled testimonial dinner being given in honor of the
Hakoah Soccer team at the Pennsylvania Hotel, on the eve of the team's
departure from the United States. (As reported by JTA)
.1926: Bernard Flexner, President of the Palestine Economic
Corporation, announced that the organization’s primary activity will be to help
provide financing for the hydroelectric station on the Jordan River and the
necessary transmission lines to connect the existing Diesel engine power
stations at Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Tiberias. The Palestine Economic Corporation was
organized in February, 1925.
1926:
Bertha Solomon “was admitted to the Johannesburg Bar, becoming one of the first
practicing women advocates in South Africa and the first woman to plead a case
before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein.”
1928:
Attorney General Albert Ottinger’s investigation of complaints by the Hebrew
Religious Protective Association against certain cemeteries was resumed today
when Assistant Attorney General Robert S. Conklin questioned Philip Gresner,
Superintendent of the Baron Hirsch Cemetery at Port Richmond, Staten Island,
about complaints by plot owners that charges were increased without warning and
that even “funeral processions had been halted to demand payment in arrears.:
1926:
Birthdate of actress Marilyn Monroe. Born Norma Jean Baker, Monroe converted to
Judaism before she married playwright Arthur Miller.
1930:
Birthdate of Jo Amar. Jo
Amar, a Moroccan-born Jewish singer whose melding of Andalusian and Israeli
musical influences would make him a star in Israel and a popular performer in
Jewish communities around the world. He
passed away in 2009 at the age of 79.
1933(7th
of Sivan, 5693): Second Day of Shavuot
1933:
The League of Nations approves The Bernheim petition which is a protest aimed
at Nazi anti-Jewish legislation in German Upper Silesia.
1933: Germany introduces the Law for Reduction of
Unemployment, which provides for marriage loans and other incentives to
genetically “fit” Germans. (Jewish Virtual Library)
1933: American modernist writer Gertrude Stein
published her autobiography, ironically titled The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,
1936(11th
of Sivan, 5696): As Arab attacks continue, snipers fired on two buses near
Jerusalem, killing one Jewish rider and wounding two others. In the evening, a Jewish constable in Givat
Shaoul was shot at by unknown assailants.
This is the same district of Jerusalem where another Jews was killed
yesterday.
1936:
Leaders of the current Arab uprising reportedly have sent letters to wealthy
Arabs “threatening their lives and homes unless they” provide economic support
for the uprising. In response, the
targets of the demands are “fleeing to Egypt, Lebanon and Europe.
1937: Birthdate of Yisrael Meir Lau, the Polish born rabbi whose father died at Treblinka,
who became the Chairman of Yad Vashem and Chief Rabbi of Tel Avi.
1938: Superman created by American writer Jerry
Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster made his first appearance in D.C.
Comics’ Action Comics Series issue #1 which sold for 10 cents.
1941: In Baghdad,
Pro Axis Rashid Ali, began his revolution against the British by attacking the
Jewish community. Approximately 150 Jews were murdered and 800 injured during
two day of rioting. British troops stationed outside the city did not
intervene. The pogrom is known as the Farhood.
1941:
The Battle of Crete comes to an end with German victory. There were fewer than four hundred Jews
living in Crete at this time. “It was not until June of 1944, and almost as an
afterthought, that the Jews of Crete were arrested and sent to Herakleion,
where they were put on the ship Tanais, together with some 600 Greek and
Italian prisoners. For some years the details of the last hours of the Tanais
and the fate of its crew and human cargo was not clear. What was known is that
the ship had been sunk and that all had perished. Evidence has now appeared
through the Foreign Office in London that in fact the Tanais had been sighted
by a British U-Boat and was given two torpedo broadsides and sank within 15
minutes.”
1941: The deportation of Bosnian Jews to
regional concentration camps begins. By
November, 14,000 Jews will have been deported to these camps.
1941: Birthdate of Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan,
a psychiatrist who invented an influential approach to teaching children with
autism and other developmental problems. (As reported by David Corcoran)
1942: The story of a young Jew, Emanuel Ringelblum,
(who escaped from the Chelmno death camp after being forced to bury bodies as
they were thrown out of the gas vans), was published in the underground Polish
Socialist newspaper Liberty Brigade.
The West now knew the "bloodcurdling news ... about the slaughter of
Jews," and it had a name-Chelmno.
1942: The World
Jewish Congress, based in New York, announces at a press conference that
Eastern Europe is being turned into "a vast slaughterhouse for
Jews." As with the Sudan and Dafur
sixty years later, the world “does not hear.”
1942: Between June 1 and
June 30 more than 23,000 Jews are gassed at the Belzec and Sobibór death camps
1942: During June, Auschwitz is
ravaged by an epidemic of typhus.
1942(16th of Sivan, 5702):
Germans invade Jewish hospitals in Sosnowiec, Poland, murdering newborns and
tearing patients from operating tables. Ambulatory patients are sent to
Auschwitz and gassed.
1942 (16th of
Sivan, 5702 Jews
from Dabrowa Tarnowska, Poland, led by Rabbi Isaac and gathered in a Jewish
cemetery, defy their Nazi captors when they hold hands, dance, and drink
"to life." The enraged Germans shoot and disembowel the entire group.
1942: At Lutsk, Ukraine,
Jewish resistance is led by Joel Szczerbat
1942: Starting in the first
week of June, three thousand Jews at Pilica, Poland, are deported to Belzec,
but several hundred manage to escape before the journey is complete
1942: In Norway, Jews
are given identity cards stamped with the letter "J."
1942(16th of Sivan, 5702): Mordecai Gebirtig, a Kraków carpenter whose songs of
freedom are sung throughout Poland, is executed at Belzec.
1942: During the
first week in June, Polish
Jews are deported from Hrubieszów to the Sobibór death camp. Another 500 will
be deported the following week
1942: Starting in
June, Warsaw's underground newspaper, Liberty Barricade, published by
the Polish Socialist Party, reveals Nazi gassing activity at the Chelmno death
camp
1942: I.G. Farben's
Buna-Monowitz synthetic-rubber and oil works opens near Auschwitz
1942(16th of Sivan,
5702): Between today and the 7th of June seven thousand
Jews from Kraków, Poland, are murdered at the Belzec extermination camp.
1942:
First mention ever in the press, in this case the underground Warsaw newspaper
"Liberty", of the ‘bloodcurdling news coming out of Chelmno.' Seven
Thousand Jews were sent from Cracow to Belzec. On this day tracks began to
be built connecting to a new death camp, Treblinka. Treblinka had been prepared
for the Jews of central Poland.
1943(27th of Iyyar, 5703): Jews of Dalmatia, Serbia, are transferred to
the island of Rab, which is off the coast of Croatia.
1943(27th of Iyyar, 5703): Starting today and lasting throughout the
first two weeks in June 10,000 Jews from Lvov lose their lives in a combination
of street assaults and killings at Janówska, Ukraine,
1943(27th of Iyyar, 5703): During liquidation of the ghetto at
Sosnowiec, Poland, which began on June 1 and ended on June 6, a spirited
resistance is led by Zvi Dunski. Ill-armed Jews fight back as deportations
proceed
1943(27th of Iyyar, 5703): The liquidation of the Jewish ghetto at
Buczacz, Ukraine begins. It will end on June 6.
Some Jews resist and escape
1943(27th of Iyyar, 5703): Actor Leslie Howard dies when the civilian
plane he is flying on from Lisbon to England is shot down by German
fighters. The reason for the attack
remains shrouded in the cloak and dagger world of W.W.II. Born Leslie
Howard Stainer in 1893, Howard’s parents were Hungarian Jews. He served in WW I and gained fame in both
English and American films. He is best
remembered for his portrayal of Ashley Wilkes, the classic cavalier in “Gone
With the Wind.”
1944: An American public
opinion poll indicates that 57 percent of Americans anticipate "a
widespread campaign in this country" against Jews.
1944: From today through
June 30, 13,500 Jews are deported from Miskolc, Hungary, to Auschwitz.
1944: With
55,000 unused United States quota slots from Occupied Europe, President
Franklin Roosevelt agrees to allow only 1000 Jewish refugees into the United
States. They will be housed at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York
1945: Displaced Jews
at Buchenwald, Germany establish Kibbutz Buchenwald, an agricultural
training center designed to help young Jews succeed at kibbutz
(communal) life
1945: Public-opinion
polls taken during June indicate that Americans consider Jews a far greater
threat to America than they consider German or Japanese Americans.
1945: Kibbutz Nili is
established on the former estate of Nazi big-wig Julius Streicher, near
Pleikershof, Germany, to train Jewish displaced persons in agriculture and
provide schooling for Jewish boys and girls.
1946: Following the murder
of two Jews in Biala Podlaska, Poland, the town's remaining Jews began leaving
the country during June.
1946: Ion Antonescu, the
anti-Semitic former dictator of Romania, is executed after being convicted of
war crimes.
1948:
The Arab states and Israel agreed to a cease-fire. After two weeks of fighting,
the Arabs realized that pushing the Jews into the sea would not be such an easy
matter after all.
1953(18th
of Sivan, 5713): Rabbi
Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, a native of Kovno who served as Dayan of the London
Beth Din for 20 years, passed away today in Jerusalem.
1962:
Leo Frederick Rayfiel, who has served on the federal bench for the last 15
years, appeared as witness today in the trial of State Supreme court Justice J.
Vincent Keogh and former assistant U.S. attorney Elliot Kahaner who are charged
with having attempted to fix a case being heard by Judge Rayfiel.
1967:
Having seen its plans to organize an international flotilla to break the
blockade of the Straits of Tiran come to naught, the United States government
shifts its policy. Previously, President
Johnson cautioned Israel not to fire the first shot in even of war. On this day, when Secretary of State Rusk was
asked if the U.S. would restrain Israel from taking precipitate actions, he
replied, “ I do not think it is our business to restrain anybody.” On this same date, Abba Eban realized that
diplomacy would not work and that war looked like the only viable option. However, the months of diplomatic negotiation
had earned Israel the support of the U.S. government, support it would need in
the coming weeks when the Soviet Union sought to reverse Israel’s military
successes.
1967: In response to the mounting tensions and
popular demand, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol forms a government of national unity
with membership from the total spectrum of Israeli political. Moshe Dyan is named Defense Minister and
meets with Chief of Staff Rabin who outlines the military’s plans. Dyan approves that which had already been
prepared.
1968:
Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", theme for the hit movie “The
Graduate,” was number one on the charts.
1979(6th
of Sivan, 5739): First Day of Shavuot
1980:
Actress and singer Barbra Streisand appeared at an ACLU Benefit in California
1984:
Susan Weidman Schneider published Jewish
and Female: Choices and Changes in Our Lives Today
1987: Meir Rosenne ends his term as Israeli
Ambassador to Washington.
1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest
to Jewish readers including The Rothschild Gardens by Miriam Rothschild,
Kate Garton and Lionel de Rothschild, and the recently released paperback
edition of Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust
by
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen.
1998(7th
of Sivan, 5758): Second Day of Shavuot
2005:
Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon completed his term as Chief of Staff of the
IDF.
2005:
Dan Halutz “was
officially appointed the eighteenth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces
and was awarded the rank of Rav-Aluf (Lieutenant General). It is the second
time in the history of the Israel Defense Forces that a former IAF commander
became the head of the entire military.”
2005: The Jewish Family
Service (JFS) of Los Angeles holds its annual gala. The honorees are CAA agent
Rick Kurtzman; his brother, Fox business affairs executive Howard Kurtzman; and
their brother-in-law, William Morris Agent David Lonner (married to their
sister Janet).
2006:
At a
commencement address he delivered at Queens College today, Alan “Hevesi told
his audience that Senator Charles Schumer was so tough he would "put a
bullet between the President's eyes if he could get away with it." Several
hours after his remarks, Hevesi apologized for his comments, calling them
"beyond dumb," "remarkably stupid," and "incredibly
moronic\.”
2006:
Archaeologists Ofer Bar-Yosef of Harvard University and Mordechai E. Kislev and
Anat Hartmann of Bar-Ilan University report that they have found evidence that
ancient people grew fig trees some 11,400 years ago, making the fruit the
earliest domesticated crop. Remains of the ancient fruits were found at Gilgal I, a
village site in the Jordan Valley north of ancient Jericho,. Gilgal was
abandoned more than 11,000 years ago. Figs that are edible do not produce seeds
and are propagated by planting shoots. Bar-Yosef said that ''In this intentional act
of planting a specific variant of fig tree, we can see the beginnings of
agriculture. This edible fig would not have survived if not for human
intervention.''
2006: The International Raoul Wallenberg
Foundation, in conjunction with the Instituto Cervantes and the Spanish
Consulate in New York paid tribute to Diplomat and Savior of the Holocaust,
Eduardo Propper de Callejón at the Instituto Cervantes in New York City. The
event had a tremendous turnout with approximately 180 people in attendance. Propper's
son, Felipe Propper de Callejón, spoke about how his father used his diplomatic
office to administer special visas that would enable Jews and other persecuted
people to escape the Nazi regime under the protection of the Spanish flag.
Despite his father's heroism, he was stripped of his title and transferred to
Consulate of Larache in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco and was never able
to regain his title or attain recognition for his heroic acts before his death.
Ana Salomon, the Special Ambassador for Relations with Jewish Organizations of
the Foreign Ministry of Spain, and Abigail Tenembaum, the Vice President of the
International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation also spoke at the event. The tribute
featured an exhibition of photos, legal documents, and Propper's own notes and
correspondences written while serving as First Secretary. This was the
IRWF's second tribute to Spanish diplomat saviors. The first honored eight
saviors in Argentina in 2004. The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation is
a non-profit organization that seeks to promote solidarity and civic courage,
which are ethical cornerstones of the saviors of the Holocaust
2007:
Hadassah
national president June Walker’s appointment to head the Conference of
Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations goes into effect. The Presidents'
Conference is the umbrella group that represents 50 American Jewish
organizations on issues of national and international concern.
2007:
Michel Graber,
the magistrate who has been overseeing the investigation into the fire that
damaged Geneva’s largest synagogue on May 24 said that it was a criminal act
which he described as arson. But he said there had been no indication that it
was set by extremists. The May 24 blaze raised fears among Geneva's Jewish
community that the fire might have been an anti-Semitic attack.
2007:
On the same day when three more Kassam rockets struck Israel, the IAF killed a
member of an Islamic Jihad Kassam cell in an air strike.
2008:
Washington, D.C,. Manhattan, NYC and Boston all host celebrations honoring
Israel at Sixty.
2008: Mrs. Jacob
(Betty) Levin gathers with her family and friends for the unveiling of the
Matzevah of Dr. Jacob Levin (of blessed memory). Of course, his real Matzevah is impact he
made on the lives of his loving family and devoted friends.
2008:
In Chicago, the Spertus sponsors a book signing for “Louis
Zukofsky The Modernist Poet as Jew” by Dr.
Mark Scroggins. As the unbelieving child of immigrants, Louis Zukofsky (1904 – 1978)
sought to study his way out of his father’s Lower East Side sweatshop and to
write his way into Western literary history. He did so by placing himself among
the "high modernist" poets, whose conception of culture was often
covertly or explicitly anti-Semitic. Dr. Mark Scroggins’ new book explores
Zukofsky’s growth into one of his century’s most fascinating and complex poets,
growth paralleled by his navigation of poetry and Jewishness, and his discovery
of Jewish-inflected modernist poetics, which continue to influence and inspire
contemporary poets. Mark Scroggins holds an MFA and PhD from Cornell University
and teaches literature and creative writing at Florida Atlantic University. A
widely published author of poetry, essays and reviews, he has written on a
broad range of writers, including extensive writing on poet Louis Zukofsky.
2008: The
Chicago Sun Times features a review of “The Dream” by ninety-eight
year old Harry Bernstein. “The Dream”
follows “The Invisible Wall” as the second in a trilogy that traces the
life of the immigrant son of Yankel and Ada Bernstein.
2008: The
Washington Post features a review of “1948: A History
of the First Arab-Israeli War” by Benny Morris as well as listings for
“Defending Identity: Its
Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy”, by Natan Sharansky, “Golda” by Elinor Burkett,” A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman
Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel” by Gudrun Krämer, “Jerusalem:
City of Longing” by Simon Goldhill and The Story of Israel: From Theodor Herzl to the Roadmap for Peace”
by Martin Gilbert.
2008(27th of Iyyar, 5768): Yosef (Tommy) Lapid passed away at the age of 76. Born in Yugoslavia in 1931, Lapid and his
mother (his father died in the Holocaust) made Aliyah in 1948 where he became a
successful journalist and political leader.
2008(27th of Iyyar, 5768): In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Penny Binger a student of Chasidic Judaism and
devote of Shlomo Carlbach passed away.
2008: In front page article entitled “Baghdad Jews
Have Become a Fearful Few” The New York Times describes the plight of
one of the world’s oldest Jewish
communities.
2009: Final showing of Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing
#260(1975)” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
2009: Sports Illustrated magazine features a
review of Bill Russell’s “Red and Me” which focuses on the close, unique
relationship between the all-star center and coach and Red Auerbach, Russell’s
coach and mentor. Between the two of them, they changed the game and made a
unique social statement. “Russell writes that they were drawn together by a
mutual hardheadedness, united y the ‘tribulation of our tribes’: Russell was an
African American who grew up in the Jim Crow South and the Oakland projects,
Auerbach a street-savvy urban Jews.” While everybody knows about the alliance
between African-Americans and Jews that helped to make the Civil Rights
Revolution, fewer people are aware of this unique Black-Jewish Alliance which
created its own revolution.
2009: During “Turning Point 3” the government’s emergency
headquarters will discuss coordination measures
2009: Security forces uprooted the outpost of Nahalat Yosef today and arrested
several activists who protested the destruction. Among those arrested was MK
Michael Ben-Ari. Following those events, security forces converged on Ramat
Gilad, where residents are concerned at the prospect of a confrontation but say
they will resist any attempts to evict them from the area.
2009: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak began a round of meetings with top
U.S. officials today in a bid to head off an increasingly sharp dispute between
the United States and Israel over the expansion of Jewish settlements in
Palestinian territory.
2009: The Saul
Steinberg: Illuminations travelling exhibition, which displays original
Steinberg works comes to a close in Hamburg, Germany.
2010: Mothers
Circle, an education and support group for non-Jewish women raising Jewish
children is scheduled to have its first meeting for the summer at the Historic
Sixth & I Street Synagogue.
2010: In the wake
of naval action off the coast of Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu does not meet
with President Obama as originally scheduled.
2010: An Islamic militant group in the Gaza Strip said three of its members had
been killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza. The Iranian-backed
Islamic Jihad group said its fighters were killed shortly after firing two
rockets into southern Israel. Israeli authorities said the rockets landed in
open areas and caused no injuries. The IDF confirmed it had carried out an
airstrike today, and Gaza's chief medical examiner said there were three
deaths. Earlier on today, two would-be Palestinian terrorists were killed on
the Gaza border as the IDF foiled an infiltration attempt. No casualties were
reported among the troops. "Two Palestinian terrorists were identified
infiltrating into Israel from the southern Gaza Strip earlier this morning. The
soldiers on the scene exchanged fire with the terrorists, killing them
both," the IDF Spokesperson said of the event in a statement released
later in the day. Two AK-47 rifles, ten
magazines and five grenades were found on the infiltrators' bodies.
2011: The Masada,
Dead Sea and Jerusalem Opera Festival is scheduled to begin.
2011: Final session
of Hebrew Literacy: Aleph, Bet, and Beyond is scheduled to take place today at
the Historic Sixth & Synagogue in Washington, DC
2011: In
Washington, DC, Adas Israel is scheduled to hold its Annual Meeting and honor
the 2011 Yad Kakavod recipient, David Bickart.
2011(28th
of Iyar, 5771): Yom Yerushalayim –
Jerusalem Reunification Day
2011: President Shimon Peres said today that peace could be achieved in
Jerusalem in "our time", declaring that Israel has replaced the
divisions that once wracked the holy city by offering freedom to all faiths and
creeds. In his address to the annual Jerusalem Day state ceremony marking 44
years since the reunification of the capital, Peres said he believed in the
"eternity of Jerusalem". "I believe that Jerusalem will know
peace in our time. Jerusalem, as you celebrate your freedom today, we stand in
your gates, and bemoan the sons that have fallen on your walls," the
president said, an homage to the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces
"for bringing our historical capital to life, the eternal capital of our
people." Peres also said that Israel "did not initiate" the
Six-Day War, which resulted in the capture of lands and the reunification of
the capital. "[Israel] was forced to fend for its life," said Peres,
adding that since then "Jerusalem stood united, free of divisions."
The president also emphasized in his address the rejuvenating affect that the
unification had on Israel's capital. "For 44 years there have been no
barb-wire fences in the heart of Jerusalem. Minefields were replaced with open
gates. The shooting slits in its walls and towers were replaced with prayer
houses," he said. "From a divided, wounded, somber city Jerusalem
became a bustling metropolis, picturesque and thriving, open to all
believers," the president said. Israel reopened the capital, he said
"breathing the air of freedom.""Jerusalem's uniqueness was
restored and it again became the center of the Jewish nation," added
Peres. The capital of the State of Israel." In what could be seen as a
reference over continued tensions in the city, however, Peres warned that
"in the 44 years that have passed, the lights have been rekindled,"
not all of the "shadows have disappeared." "The light of
democracy allowed us to live in [Jerusalem] despite national and religious
differences," he said, referring to those differences as a "great
specter of a struggle that has yet to be resolved." Israel's capital was
the place "where our people were born," Peres said. "This is
where the Jewish soul first yearned. No other city in the world has produced
such massive inspiration that took over the hearts of half of humanity."
"No other city in the world was so bitterly fought for. We have
experienced both. From the top of Mount Scopus on one side and the Western Wall
on the other, this is where we led our lives. This is where we took our oath.
And once in exile, to this place we directed our prayers. And as soon as we
could, this is the place to which we returned," he added.
2011: The American
Jewish Committee lauded the Obama administration today for its decision not to
take part in the upcoming United Nations’ Commemoration of the Durban World
Conference Against Racism, set to take place in September in New York. The
conference, referred to as "Durban 3", is to mark the 10-year
anniversary of the contentious 2001 conference in the South African city of
Durban which was dominated by clashes over the Middle East and the legacy of
slavery. The U.S. and Israel walked out midway through the eight-day meeting
over a draft resolution that singled out Israel for criticism and likened
Zionism - the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state - to racism. The
second Durban Conference took place in 2009, also singling Israel out and
condemning it for alleged human rights violations and racist policies. The
United States did not take part in the conference. “The U.S. announcement is
the clearest indication that this gathering will be just as bad for Israel --
and for those truly dedicated to the fight against racism -- as were the
previous two international conferences in 2001 and 2009,” said AJC Executive
Director David Harris. “To acknowledge the current reality is a sad day for the
UN and the struggle against racism.” Harris lamented that the fight against
racism has been "repeatedly hijacked by countries with little actual
regard for human rights and whose primary goal is to advance highly
politicized, anti-Israel agendas." The AJC director called on other
democratic countries to follow the United States' and Canada's (who has also
said it will not participate in the UN sponsored conference) example and refuse
to attend. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
echoed the AJC's sentiments, calling on democratic countries to boycott the
conference. “The global campaign of
delegitimization against Israel was launched at Durban I," the Conference
of Presidents leaders said it a statement, adding that "it has remained a
lasting scar on the reputation of the UN and ought not to be commemorated or
celebrated." The Jewish leaders said that they would fully support the
conference if it "truly addressed bigotry and xenophobia", claiming
that Durban 3 is little more than a "sham". The U.S. announcement
that it would not be participating in Durban 3 came in a letter to Congress
from Joseph E. Macmanus, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for
legislative affairs. The letter stated that the U.S. will not participate
because the Durban process "included ugly displays of intolerance and
anti-Semitism," Macmanus wrote.
2011: In Helsinki, Ben
Zyskowicz, a member of the National Coalition Party who was recently appointed
speaker of the Finnish parliament, was attacked by a middle-aged man shouting a
racial epithet against Jews.
2011: Attorneys for Howard Ackerman, an Orthodox Jewish prisoner in Carson
City, Nev., filed a lawsuit against the state. The suit claimed that the
state's corrections department intended to stop serving kosher meals to inmates
within a week, thus violating their client’s freedom to practice his religion. Attorneys
representing the state prison system filed court papers saying new menus are
being considered, but that there are no plans to discontinue the kosher meal
program.
2011: http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Video/Article.aspx?id=223145
2012: Cellist Yoed Nir is scheduled to perform tonight at Town Hall in New York
2012: The Kühn Choir of Prague is scheduled to give an a-capella concert at the Henry Crown Concert Hall as part of the Israel Festival being held in Jerusalem.
2012: Jennifer
Herren is scheduled to begin her Bat Mitzvah weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa by
helping to lead Shabbat Eve services which will include a special appearance by
singers and musicians of Shir Yehuda.
2012: Early this
morning memebers of the 12th Batallion of the famed Golani Brigade
thwarted a border crossing which appears to have been the prelude to a major
terrorist infiltration. Planes from the
IAF followed up with targeted attacks on Gaza.
2012(11th
of Sivan, 5772): Twenty-one year old Golani Staff-Sergeant Netanel Moshiashvil,
from Ashkelon, was killed today while stopping a terrorist inflitrator
attempting to cross into Israel from Gaza.
Larry mw Copyright; June, 2012; MItchell A. Levin
